


Through the Hourglass

by Ceata88



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, I wanna try it again sometime, Pre-Fall of Overwatch, hc ficlet mostly, it's about time travel shit, listen I love this brotp, sleepy tracer is the cutest, winston shouldn't have energy drinks, writing winston is actually fun??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 00:56:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8600791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceata88/pseuds/Ceata88
Summary: Winston can't sleep, Lena can't either, turns out it's for very different reasons.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ficlet I mostly wrote cause of my own hcs, I mean, I can't imagine drifting in time is all that awesome. 
> 
> Also cause these bros need more fics

    Winston tried to blame his current insomnia on his enhanced genes. After all, it was an easy thing to blame for staying up at three in the morning continuing to work on this failing project. He didn’t want to ask Torbjörn for help. Last time he did that the mechanic was boasting about it for days on end.   
  
    All he did was weld something together because, at the moment, Winston still wasn’t allowed a torch of his own. As if he didn’t know how to use one.   
  
    But, then again, he knew the more likely reason he was still up at this hour was chugging down three of those energy drinks. He figured one wouldn’t be enough for the extra hours.  
  
    Now he barely knew what being tired felt like anymore.   
  
    Angela was going to kill him, probably, unless he disposed of the evidence.   
  
    Then he could just blame his genetic enhancements, and science.   
  
    Maybe he could put this aside and make himself another vaporizing gun. The last one got confiscated but he’d just need it long enough to get rid of the soda cans. He could vacuum up the remaining dust.  
  
    Winston considered this as a valid option as he glanced up at the clock.  
  
    3:22 AM  
  
    Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. The noise of it going off would surely wake someone up. Perhaps he could sneak out and dispose of them in someone else’s trashcan. Someone like...  
  
    “Winston? Are you still up?”  
  
    The voice startled the scientist enough that he almost knocked the stack of used cans over. He managed to catch them all, scrambling to shove them under his work bench.  
  
    Then he turned, adjusting his glasses to see who wast standing in the doorway.   
  
    Lena was, rubbing at her eyes. Her usual spiky hair was an even bigger mess  and with the amount of stripes on her clothes he had to guess those were her pjs.   
  
    “Ah, you surprised me Lena. Is everything alright?”   
  
    She said nothing for a moment, not even sporting her usual smile. Eventually she wandered into the room, bare feet kicking a lose part to the side. Winston really needed to sort this lab out sometime.  
  
    “Tired,” she mumbled before leaning against his shoulder.  
  
    “Then you should be in bed.”  
  
    “Can’t sleep,” she shook her head.   
  
    “Is the accelerator giving you trouble?”  
  
    Another shake of the head.   
  
    Winston sighed and nudged his glasses. He was never very good at this sort of thing. The reasons why the pilot decided to cling to him were unknown to him.   
  
    Sure he had built the accelerator, a device she needed to even stay anchored in the timeline, but that didn’t seem like much of a reason.  
  
    She’d been clingy for a while when she first got it. Every day when she was in his lab getting it checked on or tweaked she’d cling to him or even sit on his back while he worked. Sometimes she’d complain about his suit, that it wasn’t comfy enough.  
  
    It’s not like he was a teddy bear.   
  
    It’d been about six months since then. He’d tried to convince her to practice using the accelerator in combat, as it could greatly help her tactics, but she always refused. He supposed she was nervous about slipping out of the stream again. He couldn’t blame her.  
  
    There was no telling what that was like.   
  
    “Lena?” He finally decided to ask. “Why are you in here?”  
  
    “Sorry,” she leaned back and yawned. “It’s just, well, you’re like my only friend in here, you know? I mean Jack is nice an all but he’s so serious, being a commander I suppose. Angela’s fun but she’s always working, doesn’t hang out much.” Another yawn.   
  
    “But if you can’t sleep I’d recommend some kind of aid. I guess you can’t get any medicine at this hour, but I’ve heard there’s other remedies. Something about warm milk? Or tea, I’ve seen Ms. Amari use tea a lot, or-”  
  
    “Winston, love, you’re rambling again.”  
  
    “Oh, sorry.”  
  
    “Tea sounds nice though.” She stared up at him, expecting something. What, was he just supposed to summon it out of thin air?  
  
    Then he figured it out, “You want me to carry you there, don’t you?”  
  
    “Please,” she finally smiled.   
  
    Well, he couldn’t say no to that. With a sigh he picked her up and let her climb onto his back. She clung to his shoulders and rested her chin on the top of his head.   
  
    He never placed why she liked it up there so much. Maybe it reminded her of flying a plane, something else he’d have to remind her that he had no relation to.   
  
    Not a monkey. Not a plane. Not a damn teddy bear.   
  
    He glanced up and down the hallway before heading out. The last thing he needed was a higher up finding them both out of their sleeping quarters.  
  
    “Why are you still up?” Lena poked him on the head.   
  
    “I was working on a new experiment.”  
  
    “At three in the morning?” She yawned again. “How do you even function at this hour.”  
  
    “Uh, genetics?”   
  
    Her giggles were quiet, “Okay, sure.”   
  
    She was silent the rest of the way to the small break room kitchen. For a moment he was worried she had fallen asleep. Her senseless mumbling was hardly reassuring.   
  
    “Okay, we’re here.” He said when he came to a stop.  
  
    More mumbling.  
  
    Winston cleared his throat. “Ladies and Gentlemen this is your captain speaking. We’ve arrived at your destination and would appreciate your promptness in disembarking.”   
  
    She laughed at that, finally climbing down onto the kitchen floor. She shivered a bit when her bare feet hit the cold floor. She had her arms out, sleeves extended over her palms which she clutched tight as she waddled over to the cupboard.   
  
    “You want anything?” She asked.   
  
    “There’s not much in here I would drink, so no.”  
  
    “What about a snack. I bet they have bananas.”   
  
    He rolled his eyes a bit but jumped when he saw what box Lena was grabbing. He snatched it out of her hands before putting it back.  
  
    “Hey, what’s the big idea?”  
  
    “That’s black tea.”  
  
    “So?”  
  
    “The caffeine will only keep you awake. You need something herbal.”  
  
    “But herbal tea is gross.”  
  
    “Do you want to sleep or not?”  
  
    “Don’t dad me Winston, I get enough of that from Jack.” She scrambled to reach the box, but Winston simply held it up out of her reach. “Winston, come on.” She whined.  
  
    “No, either something herbal or hot chocolate.”   
  
    Lena pouted at him for a moment but sighed. “Yeah, that sounds okay I guess.”  
  
    It took a bit of searching on both their parts to find any hot chocolate. In the end it was just the instant packets. Lena insisted on adding some whip cream on top when it was ready. She started up the coffee maker, leaving it empty so it’d just spit out hot water. Easy thing to do when you had no stove on hand.   
  
    “Experiment huh?” She said while leaning against the counter, waiting. Her accelerator bumped against the edge a few times and she shifted. “Is the deadline soon or something?”  
  
    “No,” Winston pushed up his glasses. “I just don’t want Torbjörn finding it and insisting on helping me.”   
  
    “Aww, big boy Winston wants to do it all by himself.” She poured the hot water into the cup, mixing in the powder with a plastic spoon.   
  
    “I know that I can, I just need the time.”  
  
    “Of course you can, love.” She grinned at him. “You made this thing after all.” She pointed at the device on her chest. “No small feat you know, making a device that can anchor a time traveller.”  
  
    He tone became sad at that. He watched her, waiting for her to continue, but instead she just shook up the can of whipped cream. She topped her hot chocolate with a tower that almost doubled the height of her mug, before shrugging and spraying some in her mouth.  
  
    “Lena,” He coiled back in disgust. Didn’t she know other people used that can?   
  
    “What?” She almost spat half of it back out, catching it with her hand. “It’s good.”   
  
    “That can isn’t yours.”  
  
    She just shrugged before she put the cap back on and placed it back in the fridge. “You can’t talk big guy, you’re always stealing jars of peanut butter at a time.”  
  
    “Sure, but I don’t share them.”   
  
    “Well maybe you should.” She smiled and laughed before trying to take a sip of her drink. The tower of whipped cream got all over her nose.   
  
    Winston frowned as he reconsidered why she’d be up at this hour. It’s not often she had trouble sleeping, that he knew of. The few times he caught her napping she’d be dead to the world. It took Commander Morrison shouting to snap her out of it. If something was keeping her up it was likely, well, nightmares.   
  
    But if she didn’t want to discuss it he wouldn’t press the issue.   
  
    “It’s weird,” She yawned in between taking bites out of the tower of sugar. “Never much pegged you for a night owl. You must have gotten it from your dad.”  
  
    Winston froze.  
  
    He froze and he stared at Lena who seemed to be completely unaware of what she just said, licking at the cream on the bottom of her nose.   
  
    His dad?  
  
    He could only assume that she meant his mentor, somewhat father figure, Harold Winston, but almost all the information on that was classified by now. Meaning the only way she could learn about it was if he told her, and he knew that he hadn’t.   
  
    Maybe she meant someone else. Another agent? No, he wasn’t that close to anyone else in the base except maybe Angela.   
  
    In the end there was only one way to figure out what the hell she meant.  
  
    “What did you just say?” He asked.  
  
    She blinked at him, confused. “Your dad, you know? Um, what was his name again? He’s shorter than you, lab coat, got the same glasses too.” She laughed. “You really like copying him huh?”   
  
    “Lena,” Winston tried not to sound stern but he couldn’t keep his voice from shaking. “My mentor died on the moon colony five years ago.”  
  
    Now it was her turn to freeze. She almost dropped her mug, barely catching it. Some of the hot chocolate spilled out from the rim and onto the floor. Her eyes were wide and wild, terrified even.   
  
    “What? No. I saw him just... but...”  
  
    “Saw him? How on earth could you have seen him?”  
  
    “In the base.” Her voice grew panicked. “I saw him in the base, I swear I... oh, oh no.” She put the mug on the counter, clutching at the sides of her head.   
  
    “Lena?”  
  
    “I’m sorry, I got mixed up again. Can we... please just forget that happened. Please?”   
  
    Her eyes were so desperate, pleading. Winston knew if he didn’t agree she’d probably bolt, but he was a scientist. Curiosity was in his nature.  
  
    “I’m sorry Lena, but I don’t understand. How could you have seen him, here of all places.”   
  
    Her gaze fell, fixed on the floor. Her shaking stopped and she wrapped her arms over her chest. “I’m a time traveller.”  
  
    “Even then he never-”  
  
    “Not just our time.” She snapped.   
  
    Winston paused as he put that piece of information together. He was well aware of the theories involving multiple universes and timelines, but he never thought that Lena could travel between them.   
  
    He glanced at the mug of hot chocolate. The tower of whipped cream was melted into a puddle by now.   
  
    “Is that why you can’t sleep?” He muttered.   
  
    Lena tugged at her sleeves. “Sometimes, when I dream, I just see them again. Things I’ve seen before in other timelines, past, future, somewhat present. They seem so real, when I wake up I forget where I am. I forget what parts have happened or not. Sometimes I hate sleeping, hate reliving it.”  
  
    “Why haven’t you told anyone this?”  
  
    “Told them what?” Her tone turned bitter. “That there’s so many possibilities out there. They’re not all good you know. You either sit there wishing you had something better or fear a possibility, it doesn’t do anyone any good.”   
  
    She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve. “I mean, like I said, your dad, you always called him your dad when he was in the base, you know?” She sniffed. “Apparently you both escaped the moon in that timeline, I think. He joined Overwatch with you.”  
  
    Winston’s heart lurched at that, the idea that somewhere else his mentor was still alive, still teaching him.   
  
    “It’s funny really, I seem to run into you a lot when I travel. It’s why I um, why I hang around you so much.”  
  
    “What do you mean?”  
  
    “Any time I appear around you, you’d try and help me. Past or future. I saw you on the moon once.” She giggled. “Little Winston, you were so cute, so tiny.” She laughed louder. “You told me to wait, you were going to get help, but before you could return I had moved on.  
  
    “And um, did you know there’s a point you’re the commander of Overwatch.”  
  
    “What?” Winston stumbled backwards at that idea.  
  
    “Yeah, it’s true. Except it’s smaller, I think maybe something happened, and we had to reorganize. I don’t know what. But you were in charge. McCree was there, so was Torb and Reinhardt.”  
  
    “What about Commander Morrison? Or Commander Reyes?”  
  
    Her smile fell at that. She was clutching her arms again, looking lost. “Not there, not... with them I don’t know. I don’t know. I saw moments of them fighting, but then others where they got married. They got freaking married, Winston. It was lovely but then... then there’s others where they’re fighting all the time. In the future they have completely different identities and they’re still fighting. And I don’t... I can’t tell which future is this one. I don’t know if I should warn anyone cause it might not happen. Or maybe me warning them will fix it, or ruin it.” She clutched her head again. “I just don’t know. It’s all so confusing. I keep forgetting which timeline I’m in. Sometimes the past barely lines up. I... I...”  
  
    “Lena.” Winston was gentle when he touched her shoulder, grabbing the mug of chocolate with his other hand. “Breathe, slow down.”   
  
    She bit at her lip, sniffing again. A few tears rolled down her cheeks, but she stopped shaking enough to take the mug in her hands. She took a long sip before breathing in and out.   
  
    “I’m sorry,” He said. “I had no idea.”  
  
    Lena shook her head. “Never told anyone, don’t want to. I figure they’ll just have questions, and the answers won’t even matter. I’ve seen the future and I still can’t tell you what happens.”   
  
    Winston knew she wasn’t wrong. He wanted to ask questions about this possible timeline where his mentor survived, but it wouldn’t do any good. All the answers would really do is make him yearn for something that couldn’t happen, not anymore.   
  
    So he asked something else, “You said that I’d always try and help you?”  
  
    “Yeah,” Her face brightened a bit. “Always, past or future. I think your future self knew what to do but you were never quick enough. I figured if I kept trying to find you that you’d get it right eventually and well, here we are.” She stared down at her mug for a moment. “But sometimes I wonder, what if you helped me in a different timeline. I mean... am I even meant to be in this one?”   
  
    “Yes,” Winston answered without hesitation. “I’m sure you’re meant to be here Lena. I can’t say why but I’m sure you are. I like you being here, at least.”   
  
    Lena smiled at her, rubbing away the rest of her tears. “Thanks big guy.”  
  
    “And um, I don’t know of this will help. But maybe you should work on a journal of some kind?”  
  
    “A what?”  
  
    “A journal. I could make a program for your tablet. You can write down what happens from day to day so you don’t get confused. I could even add on a search feature and a timeline, so you can attach historical articles to it, remember what happened before. Uh, in case you get confused again, you know?”   
  
    Finally she beamed at him, full on grin. “That sounds lovely, thank you so much.” She finished the rest of her hot chocolate in one last sip. “How am I ever going to repay you for all this? Hm, maybe I could start by not telling Angie that you stole my energy drinks.”  
  
    Winston flinched.  
  
    “You thought I didn’t notice, huh?”   
  
    “S-sorry about that.” He pushed his glasses up. “I just need to get this project done.”  
  
    Lena laughed and dropped the mug in the sink before hopping up on his back again. “No harm done big guy, I won’t tell anyone.” She let out a long yawn. “Bed time now.”  
  
    “Don’t fall asleep up there.”  
  
    She just mumbled back in response.  
  
    Winston wasn’t sure that it meant, that he tried to help her in every timeline that they met. He wanted to believe that he would, that helping people came naturally to him. He was never fond of the idea of fate.  
  
    But he let it slide just this once. He chose to believe that the him in other timelines also found a way to help Lena, to anchor her down. He didn’t even want to toy with the idea that there was a time they never met.   
  
    He heard a soft snoring coming from behind him and he sighed.  
  
    “Lena.”


End file.
